This invention relates generally to the steering of mirrors and, more particularly to a mechanical system especially adapted to reflect and direct an image, beam, or light ray in a precise manner.
Heretofore, the steering of a mirror to reflect and direct an image, beam, light ray, or other incident radiation hereinafter referred to as the "beam" has involved manually or mechanically positioning the mirror in a manner such that the mirror reflects the beam according too the law of mirror reflection, viz: the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. Accordingly, the angle between the incident reflected rays is twice the angle of incidence, and the normal line to the plane of the mirror bisects this angle. The task of precisely directing a reflected image or beam involves positioning the mirror such that the normal to the mirror bisects the subtended angle between the source of the beam and the desired position of the beam.
In the past, the task of positioning a mirror to direct a reflected beam in a manner such that the beam describes a circular arc on a flat plane, or to direct a beam to a point in space from a radial direction, has required using a cam and cam follower mechanism derived from calculations, or use of electrical signals to drive motors, also derived from calculations involving a suitable space coordinate system.